RTD Drivers Fail to Block Probe of Driving Records

Drivers for the Southern California Rapid Transit District lost their bid Friday to block what they called a “shotgun” investigation into their driving records by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

Superior Court Judge Warren Deering refused the RTD drivers union’s request for an order directing City Atty. James Hahn to return records on more than 4,000 drivers that were obtained to determine whether the transit district’s drivers are operating with proper licenses.

“Our position is the city attorney is certainly entitled to that information on any individual they think may be violating the law, but to ask for 4,426 records is simply a fishing expedition and a witch hunt,” Larry Drasin, attorney for the United Transportation Union, said of the investigation.

The records in question, delivered to Hahn only hours before the union was scheduled to go to court to obtain a restraining order, include the names, birth dates and driver’s license numbers of all RTD drivers--information that can be used to obtain full driving records through the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Union officials say the probe violates drivers’ privacy rights and may turn up misleading information. Driving records may, for instance, show violations for which a driver was found not guilty, accidents in which a driver was not at fault or outstanding warrants not related to a driver’s job, such as unpaid parking tickets.

Deputy City Atty. Jack Brown argued that records on RTD drivers are public and must be disclosed. But in any case, he said, the city attorney’s office does not plan to make public any information obtained during its investigation except in the course of prosecuting drivers who break the law.